Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Gu Kaiyuan patted Bai Suihe's hand and comforted her, "There's nothing to worry about. At least for the time being, this Ninth Master Gu will have to stay quiet, or he may go to other counties to buy land."

His wife has offended everyone in the county on her own. Anyone with a brain wouldn't dare to come here and offend anyone again anytime soon.

However, given their desire to get a bargain, they probably wouldn't be willing to buy at the original price or at a higher price.

I really don't know what they're thinking. The Third Prince was defeated here, where do they get their confidence?

Bai Suihe shook her head, "She clearly had a good hand, but now she's ruined it all herself."

Originally, with the Empress's family as a powerful brand, they could have quickly established themselves in this place. However, because the person they sent was incompetent, he ruined the situation.

"I wonder how the Gu family will react if they know what's going on?"

As for settling scores with these people? Bai Suihe wasn't really that worried. People in higher positions often have more concerns.

"Then let's see how long this Ninth Master Gu can keep this a secret. Given the Duke's cautious nature, he'll probably recall him immediately." Gu Kaiyuan, having traveled outside and learned more, "otherwise he wouldn't have raised the Empress to have that kind of personality."

Bai Suihe: "Just what kind of person is Her Majesty the Empress?"

Bai Suihe came from a merchant family, so of course she couldn't come into contact with these noble people. Even when they were young ladies from noble families, they were still out of reach.

"I've never seen it either, but it's really hard to say."

If the Empress's personality is truly as rumored, then "weak" would be a more accurate description.

At that time, His Majesty was not yet the Crown Prince. He and the Empress grew up together as childhood sweethearts. Later, they were betrothed naturally and came together smoothly. Perhaps because everything went too smoothly, their relationship seemed to have always been rather bland.

At first, His Majesty still considered their childhood friendship and respected his wife. However, after he became the Crown Prince and then the Emperor, he only gave the Empress superficial honors.

Most importantly, the Empress has not given birth to a prince over the years, and her influence in the harem has been dwindling.

In the past, some court officials submitted memorials suggesting that the empress, having no children, should abdicate and yield the throne to a more virtuous woman. It is said that the emperor directly rejected their suggestion and even demoted them to commoners…

Bai Suihe pursed her lips. "If that's the case, then the emperor's decision not to depose the empress can be considered a sign of deep affection and loyalty?"

Believe in the emperor's deep affection? Don't be ridiculous. Even an ordinary man would scheme against his bedmate.

Marriage is a gamble for women; if they win, they'll live a life of mutual respect; if they lose...

Gu Kaiyuan said, "That's just a facade. The current head of the Duke's mansion is a smart man. Since the Empress entered the palace, the whole family has started to keep a low profile. Of course, this refers to the direct line."

However, as long as the Empress still holds the Phoenix Seal, those side branches, no matter how ambitious they may be, can only endure it.

Because of their sensible nature, the emperor would not allow the empress's position to be changed.

"Since the Empress has no children, she doesn't need to get involved in the struggle for the throne," Bai Suihe thought that the Empress was not so simple. If she were really a weak person, how could she have survived for so long in that cannibalistic place and still maintained her position?

"Has the Phoenix Seal always been in the Empress's possession?"

"Yes, there have been concubines who became arrogant and wanted to replace the emperor, but in the end they were either demoted by the emperor or directly sent to the cold palace."

Later, a consensus was reached in the palace: no matter how much infighting there was, the Empress was kept out of the picture. After all, she hadn't given birth to any princes, so she posed no significant threat to them. Bai Suihe even wondered if the Empress was the Emperor's true love, but then she realized that didn't make sense. There were so many favored concubines in the harem, and they had all given birth to princes, yet no one was asked to adopt one of them. It was clearly just a matter of imperial strategy.

"Then Master Gu and his wife are truly an anomaly from the Duke's mansion. But aren't they afraid of damaging their reputation by sending out such people?"

Gu Kaiyuan shook his head, "Sometimes being too perfect isn't a good thing in the eyes of the emperor."

I suspect that these two idiots were deliberately put forward by the Duke to smear his own reputation.

"Perhaps by the time the news reaches the capital, a memorial of apology will already be before the emperor."

Bai Suihe rubbed her forehead. These politicians, they make such a big deal out of even the smallest things. "Could it just be their personal behavior?"

Gu Kaiyuan said, "These are just their personal actions. The Duke's mansion is very upright; they just trusted the wrong people."

At most, they'll be reprimanded and told to mind their own business in the backyard; everything else will be handled leniently, leaving no room for further escalation.

“They’re all so smart,” Bai Suihe gritted his teeth. “I think they should stay here. At least they’re easy to deal with, even though they’re stupid.”

"Madam, is that really what you think?"

Bai Suihe: "Did I misunderstand again?"

"Sometimes fools come up with stupid tricks that you simply can't defend against, just like what happened today."

If you were in that position, would you have been terrified?

Bai Suihe shook her head, "It's not that bad."

"So what if she really named you and asked you to decide which piece of land to sell, or at what price? What would you do in front of so many people?"

Bai Suihe's first reaction was to leave immediately, but thinking back to the scene at the time, with layers upon layers of people, she felt a little embarrassed.

"Then I can only say I'll come back and ask you, but I'm not going to give in anyway."

"But this means you'll have no say at home, and you'll attract strange looks from those people."

Don't forget, we're supported by the Bai family in all external matters. And you, as the Bai family's eldest daughter, have to ask me about everything. If you do this, people will probably look down on you from now on."

Bai Suihe frowned. "What you said gives me the impression that Madam Gu is pretending to be weak while actually being strong?"

"That's not the case. She did use this tactic to force you to submit, but she was too hasty and got a little arrogant."

“If she hadn’t been in such a hurry today, and hadn’t acted so rudely, and had softened her stance a bit, you would all have had to sell one or two properties at a loss.” Gu Kaiyuan lifted the curtain, looking at the somewhat quiet street outside. “So the human heart is the most unpredictable thing; who can truly know what’s real and what’s fake?”

Bai Suihe denied it, saying, "He probably isn't that smart, otherwise he wouldn't have handled things so badly. Now, the estates we have are a bit of a hot potato. Let's keep a few that we really like and sell the rest as soon as possible."

The Gu family is certainly not the only one with this idea. As other powerful families also withdraw, Lingnan will likely become increasingly lively. (End of Chapter)